An Own Flavour Of Bonding
by Luna Quiche
Summary: Beywheelz. Half a year after the finale, the Dominators are not over the past yet. Regardless, maybe they're ready to move on and become a true team. Christmas fic, some hurt/comfort-y stuff but also lots of fluff! Pairings open for interpretation if you want them to be there?


**A/N: Because what is Christmas time without a good old Christmas fic? I'm pretty happy with how this came out, even if it sounded awkward to me while proofreading. I'm glad I could focus on a lot of relationships and dynamics in here. There are no pairings, but I suppose this time you don't even need to squint that hard for some Jake/Sting. **

**This one is especially dedicated to the two people who've Beywheelz fangirled with me the most over the last months and made my time loving this series more than enjoyable. Riley, Soup? Merry Christmas 3 **

"_JINGE BELLS; JINGLE BELLS; JINGLE ALL THE WAY~_"

There was awkward silence in the living room after Jake crossed it with one big hop step and vanished into the kitchen. The song continued to ring through the house from there.

(_"...oh what fun it is to riiide..."_)

Glen leaned back against the couch and returned to playing some Jump And Run game on his old gameboy. "Well... That was weird. Whatever."

_"...ON A ONE-HORSE OPEN SLEIGH~! _HEY!_"_

This time Jake stopped right in the middle of the living room, a bag of cinnamon cookies in hand. "Guys, when I say 'hey' I'd expect a little more attention!" He waved his arms around a bit. David raised an eyebrow. Glen sighed. "What? There is no point at all in you singing Christmas songs, so what do you even want?"

"But there_ is_ a point!" Jake argued "It's Christmas time, so there!"

Actually it was the morning of December 24th and Jake had been paying literally no attention to the festive time so far, but that was just like him.

"Yeeeaaaaah..." Glen said slowly "Soooo _what_, exactly? You've never liked Christmas. We've never liked Christmas. We're_ Dominators_, damn it! What does it even matter?"

Jake threw a star-shaped cookie aimed at his head.

Though actually, they weren't Dominators anymore. Not in the original sense. They hadn't been actual Dominators ever since Ryan lost his battle against Sho Tenma and Odin left, but the name still stuck with them. It radiated a nice illusion of comfort, of having power and of having a purpose. It was a sign of rebellion as well. They didn't need any Ryan, any leaders, not even any traitorous Odin. Even if they had lost their beys, even if it had been painful, they all _needed_ to know and prove that they were as strong as ever. That's how they had stayed together, almost unwillingly but more afraid of being alone. That's how they ended up here, a bit outside Destection City in an abandoned house that they renovated all by themselves. Now, half a year after moving in, it all had a strange, familiar feeling of everyday life to it.

Glen caught the cookie mid-air, glared at Jake and ate it. Jake put his hands on his hips angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, of course we're Dominators. Did you seriously think I was going to preach love and peace and gratefulness? Of course _not_, idiot! But does that mean we can't have a party anyway, in our own style?"

"I don't know..." Gigante said hesitantly, "It really doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Bah, coooooward" Jake chanted and leaned forward to grin at the taller boy from up close. "It's gonna be fun. Even for you."

"I agree. Been a while since we had some... fun." Everybody spun around to look at Sting who leaned against the doorway. Nobody had noticed him approaching. In the blink of an eye Jake was next to him, flinging his arms around the smaller boy. "See? _He_ understands me!"

Nobody was sure if they even wanted to know how exactly Sting's or Jake's mind worked, so it didn't actually count as much of an argument.

The indescisive moment was interrupted by the telephone ringing. Which was weird in itself, because the Dominators never got phone calls. There just wasn't anybody to call them. Sometimes Jake called home when he was on one of his trips, but Jake was here right now. And also he was the first one who rushed to pick up the phone that was placed in the hallway on a small table.

Eight seconds later a loud cry of "GO TO HELL, DICKHEAD!" was to be heard as well as the sound of the phone being violently smashed down. The other Dominators blinked in perfect sync. Jake didn't return to the living room and several minutes passed. David had half-way expected Sting to go after him, but the silver-haired boy seemed to be lost in his own thoughts again. Glen jumped off the couch. "I'm going out. Tell Jake he can do whatever if it pleases him. I'll be back in a few hours!"

David went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.

As Glen put his second glove on and slammed the front door shut, he found himself face to face with Gigante. "You're going to visit him, aren't you?" Gigante's tone was determined, but Glen couldn't figure out what that determination was for.

"See who?" The question was reduntant.

Gigante sighed. "Odin."

Glen knew there was no use denying it. He shrugged. "So?"

Snow began to softly fall from the sky and onto their shoulders. Gigante hesitated. Two times it seemed like he wanted to speak, but only at the third attempt actual words came out. "I want you to ask him something for me."

Glen wanted to say 'What business do you have left with a traitor?' but seeing he himself was on a way to meet just that traitor it didn't seem like a good idea. "What do you want to know?"

"I want you to ask him if he's happier now." Gigante's expression didn't change. He'd thought very long about this. In response, Glen's eyes narrowed. "That's it?" he huffed "And if he is? Are you going to become a traitor yourself then?"

Gigante shook his head. "I've made up my mind. Whatever the reply ends up being, I won't leave. I just want to know. That's all there is to it."

They stared at each other. In the resulting silence Gigante thought back to the moment in which Team Estrella had called him one of them. If he went there, they would probably accept him just fine. Gigante liked the members of Team Estrella. But that was also exactly why he couldn't ever go there. It wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't feel right to leave David behind. This time he _chose_ to stay with him. Despite how David had turned out, he'd still been working for Gigante's sake all this time. Gigante had never noticed just how hard he worked and how much it pained him. Now he paid the price for that obliviousness. He wanted to make it up to David. This time he wanted to keep up with him instead of being dragged along. With Team Estrella he'd definitely just be dragged along again; letting their merciful selves carry his weight. It wasn't right. This was a decision Gigante had made on his own, for himself.

Glen broke the eye contact first. "Got it. You'll have your reply when I get back."

Gigante waited until Glen had run off, then he brushed the snow off his jacket and returned into the house.

Odin had just been listening to Sho's explanation on how to decorate a christmas tree when the doorbell rung. As Jin walked back into the living room of his apartment, which they had met up in, he looked tense. "Odin... I think this visitor is for you."

"For me?" Odin raised an eyebrow. With an unwell feeling he walked to the door, forgetting he still had a red decoration bow in hand. Glen tilted his head and his expression immediately turned to a small sneer. "You called us?"

Odin nodded. "Jake told you then?"

Dismissively, Glen waved his hand. "Nah. But there's not too many people he'd scream 'go to hell, dickhead' at, so it was easy guessing."

Awkward silence followed. After all that had happened it was kind of hard to have a decent conversation.

"...how did you find me?"

Glen huffed and grinned crookedly. "Come on now, have you already forgotten all Dominator skills? Asking around for Team Estrella ain't _that_ hard, really."

Odin avoided meeting his eyes and turned away. The silence continued and tension in the air just grew with every moment. Glen was the first one who couldn't stand it. "So will you just continue to stand there like an idiot or tell me what you called for?"

"I..." Odin grit his teeth. He really didn't seem to be comfortable answering, but there was no way around it. "I.. wanted to wish you a 'merry christmas'."

Glen blinked and then he burst into laughter of madness. It took him several minutes to stop and catch his breath. Odin awkwardly tapped his foot in the meantime. What he had said had felt like a direct punch in the guts to Glen. It was so amusing, because it was deliciously pathetic, but at the same time it also hurt. He had to laugh it all off before he felt capable of asking his most important question to which he knew the answer anyway.

"_He_ told you to do that, didn't he?"

Odin twitched a little. Lying was futile now. "Yes."

Glen bit his lip. He could just turn and leave now. Nobody would blame him. Odin, the real Odin, wasn't even much of the strong person he remembered him as. Yet he felt unable to step away. Glen sighed, looked down and then back up with a grin that could almost pass as a natural one. "So will you grab a jacket now or not? I'm guessing you don't want to freeze out there in the snow."

Odin tilted his head. "Where are we going?"

"Wherever. Does it really matter?" Glen spread his arms a little and smirked provokingly "Don't tell me you've become even too boring to just hang out!"

Things between them were not in the slightest bit settled nor would they be today or maybe even ever; both were aware of that. But for now there was a silently mutual agreement to not bring these things up. It took Odin only a moment then he was ready to go out. He had mixed feelings about this but after going through the trouble of calling, it was possibly the best outcome for things.

David fought his way through the crowd with stoic calm, but inwardly he cursed Jake for his stupid idea that ended with him having to do this. Since the Dominators had moved in together it had become a generally accepted and appreciated fact that David was the one doing the shopping. It was the only possible way for everyone to end up with exactly what they had ordered. Usually David wouldn't mind doing the groceries either. It was a nice method of getting away from the crazyness in the house for a little bit. But now, during Christmas Rush Hour, it was so annyoing that David was close to forgetting how the word 'calm' was even spelled. Yet Jake had insisted that they got more candies and decorations, so here David was. Miserably walking between a fat old lady and a dancing little child.

A Christmas celebration. What a ridiculous idea. David hadn't paid any attention to Christmas in forever -ignoring that one incident involving Ryan and a Santa hat at least- and he was perfectly fine like that. He sighed in relief as he finally left the popular area. Whether or not his old Christmas memories were negative was something he couldn't quite decide on, but now they only disgusted him either way. Their parents had been barely tolerable at their best , so the festive time had never been a joyful one for David and Gigante. Regardless of the circumstances however, Gigante would smile. David had dedicated his everything to make completely sure of that. He'd always been working for Gigante's sake, always, for nothing. Looking back now it appeared just so ridiculous to him. There was no profit, no sense, no meaning at all.

David sighed, shook off the thought and moved faster on his way home.

When Glen came back in the evening he had to stop dead in his tracks to stare at the house for a bit. In only one afternoon the others had managed to put up a light show. Well, 'light show' was a little too much said, but at least there was a glowing shape on the roof. With a little imagination, he managed to identify it as a dead reindeer. Glen sighed, but simultaneously he had to grin. Sometimes he appreciated Jake's sense of humour.

"I'm baaack!", he shouted loudly as he threw his jacket away in the hallway. Immediately Jake stormed out of the living room, looking excited. "How do you like it, how do you like it?"

"Well... your skills are a little lacking when it comes to arranging stuff, but it's still pretty cool." Glen followed Jake back into the parlour. Mountains of Christmas themed candy were placed on the table. David was sitting on the couch, inexplicably decorated with a Santa hat. Sting sat on an old armchair in a position that seemed to come straight out of a fashion magazine and totured a chocolate angel with his fingernails. It was pretty terrifying. Gigante was nowhere to be seen, but noises originated from the kitchen along with the scent of freshly baked cookies. "Not bad," Glen admitted freely, "The idea's still ridiculous, but okay, let's have some fun with this."

Jake grinned at him, looking satisfied, then he went over to Sting and observed his carving skills a bit. Testingly he leaned forward and let his tongue run over the chocolate angel's worst 'wound'. "Hmmh... I taste sweet suffering~!" Jake licked his lips. Sting, who had first seemed startled by the interruption, now smirked widely as well. "That's what I intended..." he sing-songed and locked looks with Jake.

A bit later they were outside. It wasn't the Dominators' style to keep their little party just to themselves. It was also the reason people generally disliked living close to them. It was far too likely to wake up to unpleasant surprises in the morning. Sting eyed Jake, who was sucking on a candy cane that they had stolen from a child earlier. After Judgement Bey he had promised himself to never let the other in again, but it had turned out to be impossible. In the end they were too alike to stay away from each other. But Sting felt no regrets now. Having a partner in crime was nice. A real partner at that; someone who could understand the actual extent of his sadism. Looking at Jake laughing, whining, eating, dancing nobody would have guessed the darkness of his mind was about the same level as Sting's. Even those who knew about Jake's awfulness didn't know enough. Sting, however, knew very well and he loved every bit of it.

In the few hours the Dominators spent outside they most likely ruined more Christmas nights than Santa would be able to fix. Glen even fulfilled his dream of setting something - namely post boxes - on fire in the midde pf snow. It was around 11:30pm when they returned to their own house, exhausted but amused and content. The only one who had some moral conflicts with what they were doing was Gigante, but he didn't say anything and just tried to enjoy the feeling of belonging to a group.

"Snoow attack!" Jake screamed out, just as they entered the hall. David was too late with dodging and had to take a snowball to the shoulder. He glared. "Jake, we're inside the house. Stop this; you're ridiculous!"

"Then come outside and face me there!"

"No." David slipped out of his shoes and walked into the living room, leaving a pouting Jake behind. Glen laughed, but left before he could fall victim to another snowball.

Despite the fact that they looked a little burned, Gigante's cookies tasted quite acceptable if not good. "You should totes do this more often, hehe.." Jake mumbled "Like... develop own Dominator flavours or something."

"Wouldn't we be too _spicy_ for cookies?" Glen grinned. Jake licked his lips. "Think out of the box, Glenny, we're our own brand alltogether."

"... did you just call me 'Glenny'?" "Sure. Why?"

David watched them banter over cookies and nicknames in silence. At the same time he finally started chewing on one of the sweets as well and found himself nodding appreciatively. Gigante smiled. "Hey, Big Bro... it's kind of nice, isn't it?"

"Hmph..." The sound David made could be taken for either agreement or indifference. He felt weird. It was the first Christmas on which Gigante smiled without any impossible effort on his part. This year it just came naturally. Everyone's personalities had led up to this, inevitably, as if there wasn't any other way. David finally felt himself relax.

Chased away from the couch by Glen, Jake grabbed a few cookies and went over to join Sting in the corner. Casually he dropped himself next to him, leaning against his shoulder. "I'm a genius for thinking this party thing up!" He giggled. Sting didn't answer but Jake did not mind at all. Unlike with everyone else with Sting he could always be sure the other was listening. "See... we can be great without any of these idiots and traitors. We're Dominators. We do whateeeeever we want. That's just how we roll." He sighed contently. More than anything his repeated words about how great everything was served to convince himself, but at least that was working perfectly well. He looked over to Sting again. "The good life continues..."

For a moment Sting tensed up, hearing his own words from the final battle again, but then all tension dropped from his shoulders and he leaned back against Jake. "It does..." He snickered. "Their faces turn to fear in front of us either way..."

For a moment they both just laughed, two nightmares come to life, then Jake let his head slide from Sting's shoulder and onto his lap. Grinning at his partner from down there he raised his arm and waved a cookie around. "By the way... These are pretty good. You should try them. And _na-ah_, no 'I don't feel like eating'! It's Christmas, for once you gotta go with the flow!"

Sting leaned forward and just took the cookie out of Jake's hand with his teeth. That he ended up biting him in the process was completely intentional.

Two -somehow Christmas themed- splatter movies later, everyone was more or less asleep. Glen climed over a mountain on the floor, that was actually Jake, Sting and three blankets, and nudged Gigante. "Hey... you wanted a reply from Odin, right? I've got one for you."

Immedietaly Gigante was wide awake. Expectantly he looked at Glen, who seemed awkward. "But I'll never do this messenger thing again, you hear me?"

It had been less than enjoyable to ask a question on someone else's behalf to which he didn't want to hear the answer. Glen took a deep breath. A necessary requirement before he felt up to repeating it.

"He said yes. He is happier now."

They didn't speak again for quite some time. Gigante looked over the room. The chaos, the candy, the mess of personal belongings, Sting and Jake tangled up close to each other on the floor (he wasn't surprised to see Sting look back at him. Creepy as it was, he rarely seemed to sleep). And then Glen, deep in thought, at his right side and David, breathing softly in his slumber, at his left. Gigante sighed slowly.

"I'm happier now as well."

And even though only half of the others weren't awake to hear him, he could still feel all of them agree silently. Gigante remembered what he had wished for as a child, whenever Christmas came near. But it was only just now that he received his true Christmas miracle.

**A/N: And cookies (and maybe a drabble of your choice) if you can figure out Gigante's childhood wish correctly! I hope everyone has a nice festive time~**


End file.
